Pretium

By Severine Wolfe

She was his light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Kemal Milos Selâniki had been in hell when Allie had extended her hand and dragged him out. He’d had a foot in both worlds until Martin healed his soul, but something was still missing.
Then he saw her one night and he knew she was it for him. Carrie Meyers threw light into the dark and shadows he’d been in since he’d been seventeen and Ganelons had killed his family.
When he has to go find his sister, Carrie nearly dies, and he barely makes it back to her in time to save both of them. He reluctantly drags her into his world and tries to convince her that she is worthy of everything to keep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Severine Wolfe
• Release date: Jan 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463436578

Severine Wolfe

Severine Wolfe is a pen name. It's also a name I've used across the gaming world for nearly 20 years. I answer to, "Hey, Sev!" just as easily as my birth name.I am married and have four grown children and three grandchildren. I love to read and I read everything from treatises on philosophy to theories on the speed of light to the most bawdy of bodice rippers. My interests are varied but reading, knitting and gardening are my top three. Extreme knitting, not for the faint of heart.I've had stories running around my head for years and I'm just now letting them out to put themselves on the virtual page. I hope you enjoy the characters as much as I have over the years. You can contact me at [e-mail].

Book preview

Pretium

Urban Paladins Book 5

By Severine Wolfe

Pretium

Copyright © 2019 by Severine Wolfe

First E-Book Published January 2020

Cover design by Melody Simmons

Proofread by Stephanie Taylor Flores

ISBN: 9780463436578

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author.

All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is strictly coincidental.

License Statement

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

She was his light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Kemal Milos Selâniki had been in hell when Allie had extended her hand and dragged him out. He’d had a foot in both worlds until Martin healed his soul, but something was still missing.

Then he saw her one night and he knew she was it for him. Carrie Meyers threw light into the dark and shadows he’d been in since he’d been seventeen and Ganelons had killed his family.

When he has to go find his sister, Carrie nearly dies, and he barely makes it back to her in time to save both of them. He reluctantly drags her into his world and tries to convince her that she is worthy of everything to keep.

Dedication

I dedicate this to Cynthia Sax, who, unknowingly, gave me the idea for this story. Thank you, madam. Many thanks for enjoying these two so greatly.

ONE

I can remember, so clearly, the night I first saw her. It's as if my mind knew this was a perfect moment and carefully scribed each nanosecond in my memory so that I would never forget. I didn't. I haven't.

Tristan and I had just come back from Germany, without our package, who had come home on her own. A fact for which Tristan was being dressed down at that very moment. Instead of getting my ass chewed, I walked into a bar near Ceilidh's house. I'd dropped him off, as I was dealing with demons too powerful to hold back while he was being interrogated by a woman who considered our package, Vanessa Kane, to be her sister.

I had a sister… have a sister. I'd just received news from an old family friend who had managed to track me down. I had always kept a mailbox on the main email web clients in my true name. They'd informed me that my sister was being hunted by some people in Romania. That answered so many questions I'd had. The old family friend had no idea that I was a Paladin, that my sister was one too, as well as something else. I was morose because I was still under Tristan's supervision, and even though I'd been cleansed of all taint, the American Paladins didn't trust me on some level. I guess.

I walked into the bar and found a seat. It was a weeknight, or school night, as the Americans say. I ordered a whiskey and a shot glass of water and sat down to brood. If any jovial bar patron decided to try to talk to me, I'd pretend I didn't speak English. It would not be the first time I had played that game to get out of conversation. It was effective. No one in America spoke Romanian or Serbian.

And then, I close my eyes as I remember it clearly. I heard a laugh from across the room and turned to see a beautiful, short, redhead laughing at something her friends were saying to her. I sat, stunned. I sat there, sure in the knowledge that she was it for me. I also realized that I owed my friend Martin a devout apology for giving him shit on how he’d met his wife.

I could see her clearly. It wasn't like the movies where there's angelic music and a halo around her. No, I heard everything going on around me, but I could not tear my eyes away from her. She was smiling and nodding, about to take a shot, then she looked up at me and stood up, staring right back at me.

Dear Holy Mother, please, please, please let her feel the same way.

I stood up and walked over, stopping right in front of her, taking one of her hands, turning it over and kissing it lightly on her exposed wrist. Her eyes went wide, and her smile got wider.

I love you. Run away with me and let's go make beautiful babies together.

As a bar pick up line it was definitely lacking, but I was only saying what was foremost on my mind. I wanted to become one with her and never let her go.

She sucked in a shocked breath and then giggled. I closed my eyes, wallowing in that sound. It was an honest to God innocent giggle that I felt down to my toenails.

She stood there staring at me with a huge smile on her face. Her eyes were as blue and clear as the sky. The way the light reflected, it was like there was an actual twinkle in them.

What's your name? She whispered to me.

I smiled and kissed her wrist again, this time lingering while looking into her eyes. I am Milos, beautiful. What is yours? I gave her my private, family name. I had not given that to anyone since before I was stolen away from my family when I was seventeen. However, I never wanted her to call me Kemal. That was a public name, a name to be used by everyone in the world, people who didn't know and love me. I wanted her to love me as much as I instantly did her.

Carrie, she said quietly. I stared in utter delight as her cheeks turned an enchanting shade of pink.

May I buy you a drink? I asked and when she nodded, I walked her over to where I'd been sitting at the bar and set her on the stool I'd vacated when I saw her. She ordered a glass of wine and I ordered another whiskey.

We talked so easily, with no discomfort or awkwardness. It was very strange to me. I was happy just talking to her, getting to know about her life. In the past I'd note a likely mark, speak to her, perhaps buy a drink, then get her naked somewhere, glove up, then hit it and forget it.

Tristan's Rules for Women. One: Always wear a glove. No Glove, no love. Period. Two: Never go back for seconds. Bitches be crazy.

The type of people we picked up when we went out knew the score. We never promised anything but a nice fuck and didn't really care what their plans were for after. There is a type of woman who fucks for fun, too. Don't ever kid yourself.

Carrie was not that kind of woman. No, she was the kind of woman you took home to meet your family, married, kept pregnant and with you always.

She was telling me about just starting her last semester in college and that she'd have her master’s in history, planning to teach history in high schools. I told her I was in security. I could see that she took that to mean IT, which was a huge thing in Houston. I didn't dissuade her because I planned on revealing all to her before I convinced her onto a plane to Vegas for a quick wedding and longer honeymoon. I would not touch her before I had her tied to me irrevocably.

Then, of course, Tristan had to fucking text me telling me to come pick his raw ass up at Ceilidh's.

Motherfucker.

I've got to go into work, I explained, never hating Tristan as much as I did at that moment. May I get your number? I'd really like to talk to you again.

The look of disbelief on her face showed her obvious skepticism, but I gave her my number, showing it to her from my settings so she would know I was serious. She smiled and texted me, so I'd have her number. I was so happy I grabbed her and kissed her. She looked dazed when I let her go and took a step back, because if I didn't do it then, I'd never do it. The last look back showed her walking over to her friends who were all giving her thumbs up.

It was the best night of my life. Even better than the night the American Paladins had saved me from the Ganelons.

I texted her the next day. She had admitted to me that she had not expected me to contact her again, but that she was happy I had. I told her that I'd been sent out of town, but that I still wanted to talk to her in my downtime, which was the truest of all things I could ever have said. I craved a connection with her. She had sent me a laughing emoji back, saying she was too busy shining up her thesis and doing the last of her classwork, as well as working. Evidently, she took care of children for money as well as finishing up her degree at a local university.

We texted and emailed a lot while I was busy working with Tristan in his eternal search for Ganelons, or Death Knights as Martin called them. The man seriously needed to cut back on his game playing. I asked her out and we never could get a window of time where either of us was free. The times I was in Houston, I craved going and just grabbing her.

Finally, we both got some time a few weeks later. I took her out to dinner at a restaurant that I had heard Martin talk about taking Allie to when they had been dating. I have to admit, it was the best evening of my life, and not just because I wasn't at the apartment watching Tristan pout. I had to grin every time I did see that, though. The man was an idiot.

She told me about living at home with her mother. Her father had died when she'd been in high school and they'd been a cohesive unit ever since. She had no plans to move out once she was done with college and working. It was cute the way she'd grinned when she'd told me that staying at home guaranteed she got at least a warm meal once a day. There was a big test coming up for her teacher's certification that she was nervous about. Carrie was so brilliant; I couldn't understand why she'd doubt herself.

I told her about my family and how my parents had been killed and that I had only recently learned that my sister, Yelena, had been seen and that I had people looking for her while I finished up an assignment.

I walked her out to her car where she took a picture of me, giggling when she told me that no one would believe I had asked her out. I couldn't understand why. I was operating under the assumption that she was beating men off with a very big, heavy stick. I put her in her car and told her to text me when she got home. I honestly would not rest until I knew she was safe. I bent down and kissed her until I couldn't breathe.

Go home and dream of that kiss, because I sure as hell will, I smiled and closed the door to her car. I watched her drive off and wanted to call her back, take her to a hotel and lay her down and love her until neither of us could breathe or move, and then do it all over again and again.

Damn. I had it bad.

After that, I got her address and would send her flowers and gift baskets. I kept it up for months. We got together a couple of times, but both of us were so busy it was very hard to find the time, at the same time, to get together.

I'd found out she loved anime, so I had DVDs and Blu-Rays of the stuff sent to her, as well as recommending online subscriptions to her in email. I began seeking out anime-related t-shirts and sending them to her, ones with her favorite shows or characters on them. She'd been delighted. Hell, I'd been delighted at her calls thanking me.

I woke up one morning with Shijo making fucking pizza rolls for breakfast and Tristan grouching around the house. I was two seconds from giving him the access codes to Vanessa's penthouse so he could go rub one out on top of her. Never hit it twice, dude, right? I had to smirk at him, he was worse than Martin sometimes. Although, not one single one of us wanted to remember what Martin had been like without Allie. He really had been living proof of life after death.

I was reading an email from the family friend saying that Yelena had been found heading into Serbia and they worried. I wasn't, this was almost as good as the night I'd met Carrie. I knew where Yelena was headed.

I looked up at Tristan, who was handing me a black credit card.

Pally Card, for use on your missions and just keep in touch with us, okay?

You’re cutting me loose? I asked out loud and he nodded.

Now, get the fuck out of here, he said as he took an apple back to his room and slammed the door shut.

I wasn't stupid. I was in my room stuffing things into my go bags and out the door before Tristan came back out. I took an Uber to the airport, and I was on a plane to Sofia, Bulgaria. There were no direct flights to Serbia. I would fly to Belgrade from there and get a vehicle to drive up into the southernmost range of the Carpathian Mountains. Yelena was going home.

The thing is, my parents were both Romanian. My sister and I had been born in Romania; however, I had been taken from Serbia. Now, why would sane parents move their children from a shit hole into a war zone? Because they had rabid, ignorant witches wanting to kill their daughter because she had been born a perfect hybrid of Paladin and Witch. She wasn't one or the either, she was both, perfectly balanced and powerful, and that was the rub. The Ganelons had not realized what Yelena was. I had sent her into the woods to hide. I'd been incapacitated and abducted, never seeing Yelena again, assuming she had been killed by the Ganelons, as my parents had been. How could a nine-year-old girl survive in those woods? That thought had haunted me ever since and had bolstered much of my resistance to the Ganelon influence that had been pushed on me.

It wasn't until I hit Belgrade that I realized I hadn't told Carrie that I